Dome structure for supporting flexible material to form a dome

ABSTRACT

The structure for supporting a flexible material, such as a plastic sheet over the water in a swimming pool. The flexible material is supported by the structure in such a manner as to provide sufficient open space over the water in the swimming pool to permit normal use of the pool by swimmers.

United States Patent [1 1 Burkholz et al.

'[451 Oct. 23, 1973 DOME STRUCTURE FOR SUPPORTING FLEXIBLE MATERIAL TOFORM A DOME [76] inventors: Herbert C. Burkholz, 38309 Genesee Lake Rd.,oconomowoc, Wis. 53066; Norman K. Burkholz, N-87, W-15380 Kings Hwy.,Menomonee Falls, Wis. 53051 221 'Filed: July 29, 1971 21 Appl. 190.:167,267

[52] US. Cl 4/172.l2, 52/63, 52/82, 52/90, 135/3 R [51] Int. Cl E04h3/16, E04h 3/18 [58] Field of Search 4/172.12, 172.14,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,534,412 10/1970 Crook4/172.12

2,818,875 1/1958 Denn 135/3 R 3,488,901 1/1970 Peterschmidt.. 52/812,823,683 2/1958 Smith et a1 135/3 R 2,836,860 6/1958 Staropoli 52/90 X3,424,178 1/1969 Yazaki 135/3 R X 11/1969 McConnell et al. 135/3 R XPrimary Examiner-Henry K. Artis Att0rneyCyril M. Hajewski [57] ABSTRACTThe structure for supporting a flexible material, such as a plasticsheet over the water in a swimming pool. The flexible material issupported by the structure in such a manner as to provide sufficientopen space over the water in the swimming pool to permit normal use ofthe pool by swimmers.

2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures MATERIAL TO FORM A DOME BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION The invention pertains generally to removable domes forswimming pools.

Our copending patent application, Ser. No. 67,399 filed on Aug. 27, 1970is directed to an arrangement for providing a removable dome over thewater in a swimming pool to substantially extend the use of outdoorswimming pools. Particularly when the sun is shining, the temperature ofthe atmosphere within the dome is appreciably higher than the outdoortemperature so that the pool may be used during cool days which wouldotherwise render it unusable.

In order for such dome to be practical, it is essential that itbereadily and rapidly installed and disassembled. If a sound and stablesupporting structure is provided, the installation of the flexiblematerial over such support presents relatively few problems. The presentSUMMARY OF INVENTION- The present invention is directed particularly tothe supporting structures for supporting flexible material in the shapeof a dome. The structure isformed of tubing which is assembled bysliding fits over adjacent tubing and over brackets. Brackets aremounted on the top rail of the swimming pool by screws or other suitablefastening means. The rest of the structure is assembled by sliding fitsso that there are noscrews, nuts or other type of fastener to tightenwhen'installing the unit. The brackets that are mounted on the top railmay remain in position when the dome is removed to be readily availablefor receiving the structure when desired.

The central ridge pole of the supporting structure extends along thelength of the pool atthe top of the structure. Laterally extendingrafters must be coupled to this ridge pole to extend laterally anddownwardly therefrom so that the other ends of the rafters are coupledto the brackets on the top rail of the pool. The upper ends of therafters slide over brackets which are carried by the ridgepole. Theseridge pole brackets have two projections extending about 160 apart andthe ends of the rafters slide over these projections. The projectionsare separated by a flat which slides into slots formed in adjacentsections of the ridge pole. The adjacent sections of the ridge poletelescope into each other and the ends are provided with slots disposedin the plane of the axes of these sections. As the end of one sectionslides into the larger diameter end of the adjacent section, the flat ofthe ridge pole bracket is DESCRIPTION or THE DRAWING The foregoingobjects of the invention may be achieved by means of the apparatusdescribed in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a swimming pool incorporating thefeatures of the present invention, 'a portion of the pool being brokenaway to disclose its interior arrangement;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the swimming pool shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary detail view illustrating a bracket mounted onthe top rail of the swimming pool;

FIG. 4 is a perspective exploded fragmentary view of a side raftersupport and the ends of adjacent sections of the ridge pole shown inposition to be assembled to each other;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary detail view, partly in elevation and partly insection showing the parts illustrated in FIG. 4 assembled together;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary detail view, partly in elevation and partly invertical section depicting two opposing rafters assembled to the siderafter support shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a detail plan view of a spider with a fragmentary showing ofrafters and a ridge pole assembled to it;

' FIG. 8 is a detail view in side elevationof the spider shown in FIG. 7with an end section of the ridge pole shown assembled to it;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of one of the top rail brackets with an endsection of a rafter being shown coupled to the bracket and being brokenaway to illustrate the assembly of the rafter to the bracket; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view showing two adjacent raftersections in position to be assembled to each other.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Reference is now made moreparticularly to the drawings and specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereofwhich illustrate an outdoor swimming pool adapted to be mounted on topof the ground and that is equipped with a dome which incorporates thefeatures of the present invention. The swimming pool is of an ovalconfiguration so that a conforming oval dome is required to cover it.The dome. comprises generally a ridge pole 10 that is centrallysupported an appreciable distance above the water of the pool by aplurality of rafters 11 that extend downwardly from the ridge pole 10.The bottom ends of the rafters 11 are coupled to brackets 12 that arefixedly mounted on a top rail 15 of the swimming pool proper which isgenerally identified by .the reference numeral 14.

The supporting structure ofthe dome is covered by a flexible material 20that preferably is of ,a clear strong plastic material such as vinyl.The flexible material 20 includes a door 21 which may be closed by azipper 22 if it is desired to fully enclose the interior of the dome.Suitable windows, similar to the door 21 may be pro vided to furnishadditional ventilation for the interior.

The flexible material 20 is provided with grommets 23 along its loweredge for receiving an elastic cord 24 which is engaged over a hook 25for retaining the bottom edge of the flexible material 20 secured to theupper edge of the swimming pool 14. Another elongated elastic cord 26 isalternately threaded through the grommets 23 and engaged with the hooks25 to provide further support for securely retaining the bottom edge ofthe flexible material 20 to the swimming pool 14.

Each end of the ridge pole is coupled to a spider generally identifiedby the reference numeral 30. The construction of the spiders 30 is bestshown in FIG. 7 and includes a semi-circular base 31 with radiallyextending fingers 32 projecting from the arcuate portion of the base 31.A finger 33 projects laterally from the rectilinear portion of the base31 for receiving the end of the ridge pole 10. On the other hand, thefingers 32 are angled downwardly a slight amount to receive the upperends of the end rafters 11 which are disposed at the semi-circular endsof the swimming pool 14. The ridge pole 10 and the rafters 11 are allformed of tubing and the ends of these tubes slide over the fingers 32and 33 for supporting the rafters 11 and the ridge pole 10 in position.

The bottom ends of the rafters 11 are coupled to the brackets 12 whichare mounted on the top rail of the swimming pool 14. A bracket 12 isclearly shown in FIG. 9 and comprises a base 34 having two holes 35 forreceiving screws which fasten the bracket 12 to the top rail 15. Acylindrical portion 36 extends upwardly at an angle from the base 34. Asupport 37 extends upwardly from the cylindrical portion 36, the crosssection of the support 37 being in the form of a cross. The support 37is adapted to receive the bottom end of a rafter 11. Thus, each rafter11 has its bottom end supported by a bracket 12 and its upper endsupported by a finger 32 of the spider 30.

The rafters 11 are formed in sections and as shown in FIG. 10, the upperend of each section 11 has a reduced diameter portion 38 whichtelescopes into the end of the adjacent section of the rafter 11. Thus,by telescoping the reduced end portions 38 into the interior of theadjacent section, the several sections of the rafter 11 are coupledtogether without any fasteners.

The ridge pole 10 is likewise formed of sections, four such sectionsbeing shown in the illustrated embodiment. Thus, the left end of theridge pole 10 as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, is formed of a section 42while its right end is formed of a section 43. Two central sections 44and 45 are disposed between the end sections 42 and 43. Three siderafters 11 extend from each side of the ridge pole 10 for supporting thecentral portion of the flexible material 20.

The side rafters 11 are supported at the ridge pole 10 by side raftersupports or brackets generally identified by the reference numeral 50and best shown in FIG. 4. One of the side rafter supports is disposed atthe juncture of each of the sections of the ridge pole 10. Thus, oneside rafter support is located at the juncture of the section 42 withthe section 44, another is located at the juncture of the section 44with the section 45 and a third side rafter support 50 is located at thejuncture of the section 45 with the end section 43.

Each of the side rafter supports 50 comprises a flat central section 51with a finger 52 extending from one end of the flat section 51 andanother finger 53 extending in the opposite direction from the centralsection 51. The central section 51 is supported by the ridge pole 10 ina substantially horizontal position and the 6 The ridge pole sectionsare coupled to each other by the end of one section telescoping into theend of its adjacent section in the same manner as the sections of therafters 11 are coupled to each other. Thus, as shown in FIG. 4, the endsection 43 of the ridge pole 10 is provided with a reduced diameter end55 that telescopes into the full diameter end of the adjacent section45. However, the ridge pole sections differ from the rafter sectionsinsofar as the adjoining ends are provided with slots for receiving theflat central section 51 of the side rafter supports 50. Thus, thereduced end portion 55 of the section 43, as clearly shown in FIG. 4, isprovided with an axial slot 59 and the adjacent end of the section 45 islikewise provided with a cooperating axial slot 60. When the section 43is telescoped into the section 45 the slots 59 and 60 will embrace theflat central section 51 of the side rafter supports for securelysupporting the side rafter supports 50 at the ridge pole 10.

Thus, in FIG. 5, the section 43 is shown coupled to the section 45 bytelescoping the reduced diameter portion of the section 43 into the fulldiameter end of the section 45. The central section 51 of the siderafter supports 50 is clearly shown within the slots 59 and which arenow in coincidence for cooperating relationship by reason of thecoupling of the two adjacent sections of the ridge pole 10.

The assembly is also shown in FIG. 6 where the rafters 11 are shown inengagement with the fingers 52 and 53 of the side rafter support 50 andthe central flat section 51 of the side rafter support 50 is clearlyshown engaged by the slots 59 and 60 of the sections 43 and 45. Theopposite end of the section 43 is in engagement with the finger 33 ofthe spider 30 and the left end of the section 45 is coupled to theadjacent end of the section 44 and also cooperates with the section 44to carry another side rafter support 50 in the manner described.

It is therefore apparent, that the side rafter supports 50 are securelysupported by the ridge pole 10 without the use of any fastenerswhatsoever but merely by sliding the several sections of the ridge pole10 together and supporting the side rafter supports 50 in the slots 59and 60 of the adjacent sections. The slots 59 and 60 are slightly largerthan the thickness of the central section 51 to provide some playbetween the parts to facilitate assembly. Such play does not weaken theassembly but because of the full engagement that is thus provided,thereby actually improves the strength of the structure. Similar play isprovided between other parts of the assembly so that the parts may bereadily fitted together.

It will be thus seen, that the end rafters 11 support the two spiders 30above the water in the pool and the ridge pole 10 is supported betweenthese two spiders 30. A ridge pole 10 carries the side rafter supports50 and the side rafters l 1 have their upper ends assembled to thefingers 52 and 53 of the side rafter supports 50 with the lower end ofthe side rafters 11 being coupled to the brackets 12. Three such siderafter supports 50 are shown in the illustrated embodiment although itshould be understood that any number of such side rafter supports 50 maybe provided depending upon the size of the swimming pool.

From the foregoing detailed description of the illustrative embodimentof the invention set forth herein it will be apparent that there hasbeen provided an im- The supporting structure is formed of tubularrafters and a tubular ridge pole with the lower ends of all of therafters sliding over a bracket for supporting them along the top rail ofa swimming pool. The upper ends of the end rafters are disposed infingers extending from spiders at each end of the ridge pole and theside rafters slide over fingers of supports which are uniquely carriedby the central ridge pole without the use of any fasteners.

Although the illustrative embodiment of the invention has been describedin considerable detail for the purpose of disclosing a practicaloperative structure whereby the invention may be practisedadvantageously, it is to be understood that the particular domesupporting structure is intended to be illustrative only, and that thevarious novel characteristics of the invention may be incorporated inother structural forms without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as defined in the subjoined claims.

The principles of this invention having now been fully explained inconnection with the foregoing description, we hereby claim as ourinvention:

1. In a supporting structure for supporting a flexible material in theform of a dome to cover a swimming pool; a ridge pole; rafters extendingupwardly from the swimming pool with their upper ends being coupled tosaid ridge pole for supporting the latter above the water in theswimming pool; and rafter supports coupled to said ridge pole and inengagement with said rafters for coupling said ridge pole to saidrafters, said rafter supports comprising a flat portion; and a fingerextending from said flat portion in each direction for insertion intocooperating hollow ends of said rafters for coupling said rafters tosaid supports; and said ridge pole is provided with a slot for receivingsaid flat portion wherein the slot is narrower than the thickness ofsaid fingers so that the rafter support cannot escape from the slot andthe rafter support is thereby coupled to said ridge pole.

2. A supporting structure according to claim 1; wherein said ridge poleis formed of sections with one end of each section telescoping into theend of the adjacent section and the slots are formed in both ends ofeach section; and said flat portion is placed in the slots as thesections are telescoped together so that said flat portion is disposedin the superimposed slots of the telescoping portion of two adjacentsections and said rafter support is thereby securely locked to saidridge pole when the latter is assembled.

1. In a supporting structure for supporting a flexible material in theform of a dome to cover a swimming pool; a ridge pole; rafters extendingupwardly from the swimming pool with their upper ends being coupled tosaid ridge pole for supporting the latter abovE the water in theswimming pool; and rafter supports coupled to said ridge pole and inengagement with said rafters for coupling said ridge pole to saidrafters, said rafter supports comprising a flat portion; and a fingerextending from said flat portion in each direction for insertion intocooperating hollow ends of said rafters for coupling said rafters tosaid supports; and said ridge pole is provided with a slot for receivingsaid flat portion wherein the slot is narrower than the thickness ofsaid fingers so that the rafter support cannot escape from the slot andthe rafter support is thereby coupled to said ridge pole.
 2. Asupporting structure according to claim 1; wherein said ridge pole isformed of sections with one end of each section telescoping into the endof the adjacent section and the slots are formed in both ends of eachsection; and said flat portion is placed in the slots as the sectionsare telescoped together so that said flat portion is disposed in thesuperimposed slots of the telescoping portion of two adjacent sectionsand said rafter support is thereby securely locked to said ridge polewhen the latter is assembled.